St James, Newbottle, Northamptonshire

Feature Sets (3)

Description

St James's is of stone rubble, and has an aisled nave with four-bay
arcades, the S c.1300, the
N a little later. The nave doorways are late medieval, the S under a
porch. The chancel is early
13thc. and retains its lancets and piscina, although
the E window is 19thc. The W tower is short and unbuttressed, of the late
12thc. but its bell-openings are 14thc. The only Romanesque features are the
tower arch capitals and the font.

History

In 1086 Newbottle was held by Ivo from Hugh de Grandmesnil. No church
was recorded. The first mention of this is its grant to Dunstable Priory by
William du Pin, confirmed by Bishop Robert Chesney (1148-66). By the 13thc.
Newbottle was a possession of Dunstable.

Benefice of King's Sutton and Newbottle and
Charlton.

Features

Interior Features

Arches

Tower/Transept arches

Tower arch

W arch

The arch itself is pointed, with two chamfered orders to the E and one plain order to the W. This is clearly of 1250 or later, but the unmoulded embrasures and their plain, frieze-like multi-scallop capitals with roll neckings are 12thc., at least in design.

Furnishings

Fonts

At W end of S arcade, a plain cylindrical
bowl of oolitic limestone on a modern ashlarbase. The bowl is lined with lead,
has a major crack running around it halfway up, and another on the S side, and
has lock damage on the rim at the NW.

Dimensions

ext. diam. at rim

0.63 m

h. of bowl

0.41 m

int. diam. at rim

0.51 m

Comments/Opinions

The font, of course, is quite undateable. As for the tower arch, Pevsner
implies that the arch and its embrasures and capitals are all of a piece,
dating it c.1190-1210, but the present author prefers an earlier date
for the capitals and embrasures, perhaps around the middle of the 12thc., and a
much later one for the arch.

Bibliography

G. Baker, The History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton. 2 vols, London, 1822-41, I, 663-64.

J. Bridges, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire. (Compiled from the manuscript collections of the late learned antiquary J.Bridges, Esq., by the Rev. Peter Whalley). Oxford 1791, I, 188-89.